Ontario’s police watchdog has cleared a police officer in Lindsay, Ont., of any wrongdoing after a man suffered broken ribs during his arrest in May 2023.
In his detailed report, Special Investigations Unit director Joseph Martino said a Kawartha Lakes Police Service officer used “legally justified force” during the arrest of a man on May 23, 2023.
Martino noted just before 8 a.m. that day, the police service responded to a “threats call” at a residence near Colborne Street East and Verulam Road North in Lindsay. Martino said a 911 call reported a man was threatening to burn down the house.
The man was arrested for uttering threat and complained of chest pain. He was taken to Ross Memorial Hospital where he was diagnosed with fractured ribs.
The SIU were contacted and launched an investigation which included an interview with the man and subject officer, notes from a witness officer along with video surveillance in the house and in the neighbbourhood.
Martino said based on the evidence, the man “resisted his extraction” from the house by two officers — including the subject officer —and fell to the floor in the living room.
“Once down, he refused to release his arms from underneath his torso to be handcuffed, and kicked out with his leg,” Martino wrote.
One officer controlled the man’s legs as the subject officer wrestled control of his right arm, Martino noted. The subject officer delivered a knee strike to the man’s side which freed the left arm to be handcuffed.
“No further force was used against the complainant,” Martino noted.
The SIU director said based on the evidence, there are no reasonable grounds to believe the subject officer committed a criminal offence during the arrest and the man’s injuries. He said the knee strike constituted “legally justified force”
“The subject officer had wrestled the complainant’s right arm free, and had tried to do the same with the left arm before resorting to a knee strike,” Martino said.
“That, in my view, was a proportionate escalation of force that was reasonable in the circumstances.”
Martino noted Sec. 25.1 of the Criminal Code which states officers are immune from criminal liability for force used in the course of their duties provided such force “was reasonably necessary in the execution of an act that they were required or authorized to do by law.”
“The subject officer was within his rights when he decided to take the complainant into custody,” Martino concluded. “Given what he knew of the 911 call, confirmed directly by the caller when he arrived at the scene, I am satisfied the officer had grounds to arrest the complainant for ‘uttering threats.'”
Martino noted the man claimed he was repeatedly punched in the left rib area while he stood handcuffed by a police cruiser. However, Martino says surveillance video footage “does not capture any such force.”
“Nor was force of this nature observed by a civilian witness to the events in question,” he said.